1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image capturing device by which a three-dimensional shape of a measurement subject, which is to be measured, is captured by a time-of-flight measurement.
2. Description of the Related Art
A three-dimensional measurement using a three-dimensional image capturing device is classified as an active system, in which light, an electric wave or sound is radiated onto a measurement subject, or a passive system in which the light, electric wave or sound is not output. The active system comprises the time-of-flight measurement, a phase detection using a modulated light wave, a triangulation, a moire topography, and so on, and the passive system comprises a stereo vision system, and so on.
An active system device is bulky in comparison with that of the passive system, since the device requires a laser beam output mechanism. However, the active system device is superior regarding a distance measurement resolution, a measuring time, a measuring range and so on, and thus, despite its bulkiness, the device is utilized in various fields. In a three-dimensional image capturing device, described in xe2x80x9cMeasurement Science and Technologyxe2x80x9d (S. Christies et al., vol.6, p.1301-1308, 1995), a pulse-modulated laser beam irradiates a measurement subject, and a reflected light beam, which is reflected by the measurement subject, is received by a two-dimensional CCD sensor to which an image intensifier is attached, so that an image signal, corresponding to the reflected light beam, is converted to an electric signal. ON-OFF control of the image intensifier is carried out by a gate pulse, which is synchronized with the pulse radiation of the laser beam. According to the device, since an amount of received light, based on the reflected light beam from a measurement subject, which is positioned far from the device, is less than that of received light based on a reflected light beam from a measurement subject, which is close to the device, an output corresponding to a distance between the measurement subject and the device can be obtained for each pixel of the CCD.
In a device disclosed in International Publication No. WO 97/01111, light, such as a laser beam, which is pulse-modulated, irradiates a measurement subject, and a reflected light beam, which is reflected by the measurement subject, is received by a two-dimensional CCD sensor which is assembled with a mechanical shutter or an electro-optical shutter formed by a liquid crystal display, so that an image signal corresponding to the reflected light beam is converted to an electric signal. The shutter is controlled at a timing which is different from that of the laser beam, so that distance information of the measurement subject is obtained for each pixel of the CCD.
In the conventional three-dimensional image capturing device of an active system described above, an optical shutter, such as a KDP element, is provided so that an electric charge accumulating operation in the CCD sensor is controlled. However, not only is the optical shutter bulky, but also an electric circuit, which outputs a high voltage to drive the optical shutter, should be provided, and thus the conventional device becomes and remains bulky.
On the other hand, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,530, a device, in which an electronic shutter is provided for controlling an electric charge accumulating operation of a CCD sensor, is disclosed. However, an output of the CCD sensor, which is obtained by a single operation of the electronic shutter, is not great enough to sense distance information of the measurement subject.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a miniaturized three-dimensional image capturing device, which operates without an optical shutter, and by which an output sufficient to acquire three-dimensional distance information of the measurement subject is obtainable.
According to the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional image capturing device, comprising a light source, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a signal charge holding unit, an electric charge discharging processor, a signal charge transfer processor, a distance information sensing processor, an error information sensing processor and a distance information calculation processor.
The light source radiates a distance measuring light beam irradiating a measurement subject. The measurement subject reflects the distance measuring light beam to generate a reflected light beam. The plurality of photoelectric conversion elements receive the reflected light beam, so that electric charge corresponding to an amount of the received reflected light beam is accumulated in each of the photoelectric conversion elements. The signal charge holding unit is disposed adjacent to each of the photoelectric conversion elements. The electric charge discharging processor discharges unwanted charge accumulated in each of the photoelectric conversion elements, so that an accumulating operation of signal charge is started in each of the photoelectric conversion elements. The signal charge transfer processor transfers the signal charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion elements to the signal charge holding unit. The distance information sensing processor controls the light source, the electric charge discharging processor and the signal charge transfer processor in such a manner that the photoelectric conversion elements receive the reflected light beam after the completion of a discharging operation of the electric charge discharging processor, and controls a transfer operation of the signal charge transfer processor, so that the signal charge is integrated in the signal charge holding unit to sense first distance information corresponding to a distance to the measurement subject. The error information sensing processor controls the light source, the electric charge discharging processor and the signal charge transfer processor in such a manner that the photoelectric conversion elements start to receive the reflected light beam before the completion of the discharging operation, and controls a transfer operation of the signal charge transfer processor, so that the signal charge is integrated in the signal charge holding unit to sense error information generated in the photoelectric conversion elements during the transfer operation. The distance information calculation processor subtracts the error information from the first distance information to obtain second distance information indicating the distance to the measurement subject.